A Trip Down (1/2 bad) Memory Lane

[Gige]

This post was truly inspired by @Mr. X's recent post regarding the wearing of heels while playing a drum set. As I have also done such in the past and did not want to get weighted down in the minute and boredom of the technique in doing so, I decided to spin off a new thread as his post revived a 1/2 unpleasant memory of attending an event which involved heels many, many years ago. 

July 15, 1989, was somewhat of an unusual Saturday night as I and my then next-door neighbor travelled across the Chicago metro area to attend a concert by the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. He was touring in support of No Rest for the Wicked, his first album with his newest axe grinder, Zakk Wydle, and we had fourth row seats. Most unfortunately, there were two opening acts through which we had to suffer before Ozzy et.al. hit the stage. One of those acts was White Lion, a band who then, as they and the whole ‘hair-metal’ genre of the 80’s continue to do, fill an area of a needed void. The first act to take the stage was a four-piece, female, glam outfit who called themselves Vixen. Although their music should be forgotten and they reflected just about all that was “wrong” with the ‘hair metal’ scene of the time, which is everything, to two late teenaged guys, they were gorgeous and we did not want to miss their set only for this reason! That night, all of them wore skin-tight clothing and heels, and had hair that extended several feet in the air, held in place by several gallons of hair spray. Being that close to their heels was the only aspect of their show that was tolerable in any capacity.  

Vixen had a video that received somewhat regular airtime on the difficult and frustrating to watch MTV’s mistitled Headbanger’s Ball (To the European members, think Eurovision but somehow, far worse) on Saturday Nights. The song was entitled Edge of a Broken Heart and although completely laughable by today’s standards, I went back and watched it on Youtube the other day. Although all of the members of the group are wearing tall heels in the video, it was interesting to see how the style of such has changed from the late 80s to today. This compelled me to think about how heel styles have changed over the years and who was at the forefront of such. Clearly, one can identify those individuals or television shows where the fashion du jour was on full display. That which I find to be amazing is the fact that although the idea of high heels essentially remains unchanged over the past few decades, designers can continually find new ways to change the physical design from year-to-year. Thus, it may be easy to place any pair of heels in the decade in which they may have been worn without any clues beyond the heels themselves. It truly stinks, to put it mildly, to know that some styles of heels have a life-style span of a season or two before they are considered to be “dated.” This, I think, is why I learn towards classical styles as what is trendy now will not be so next year and timeless styles are just that – timeless. I would rather have and wear a pair of heels that hail from Jackie Kennedy’s time than from last year as classic styling never goes out of style. The idea of short-lived footwear trends can be represented in a pair of boots I have – ‘Tulip’ (model) from Jessica Simpson. They feature a 5” heel with a ½” platform but the top has a fold-over flap which was the style about 10 years ago. When I wear these boots, I take that flap and fold it into the actual shaft for a more contemporary look or unfold it to give them an over-the-knee look.   

As for the show itself – Ozzy, as expected, ROCKED! Zakk covered all of the Sabbath songs very well and played those incredible solos performed by the late and great Randy Rhodes note for note.  Sadly, however, it was the second time I had to endure the craptacular show of White Lion, who I witnessed open for AC/DC the previous September. The best part of their set was when it ended and the road crew moved their gear out of the way for the main act.

Here is a picture of Vixen. If you should watch the video on Youtube, I highly recommend you do so with the mute on so as not to damage your hearing by simply listening to the song (if you could make it all the way to the end). 

Edited December 21, 2024 by Gige
Additions

[Mr. X]

Thank's for the shout out @Gige Somehow, you know me too well!  I like all kinds of music.  But anything 80's, especially hair metal, thats my jam.  So while I appreciate the shout out, I have to condem you for crapping on White Lion and Vixen lol.  But in all seriousness, I never to got to see the Ozzman. I have seen Zakk twice, though.  Killer guitar player!  I saw him some years back with his band Black Label Society.  And I just saw him this past summer playing in the new Pantera lineup.  Would have loved to have seen Vixen in their prime.  As you said, all the members were hot as hell.  And I can tolerate their music.  And White Lion had some decent stuff.  Vito was a decent guitar player.

Edited December 21, 2024 by Mr. X

[mlroseplant]

I took a chance, with the volume set low, and looked up the Vixen video. Now that I hear it again, I kind of vaguely remember it. Once removed from the genre, it's not a terrible song. It has an actual tune. It's a bit cheesy (the modulation on the last chorus really solidifies the cheesiness factor), but to me it's an ok pop song, you just have to think of it as a pop song. There was no pitch correction and no quantizing back then, so most of that must have been actual musicians performing an actual song that didn't have 12 writers and 23 producers.

You are so right about the heel shape(s) being instantly recognizable. It reminds me of how my ex-wife used to regard the shoes of the 80s with disdain as being "super dated" looking. With many styles, particularly the lower heeled ones, I can't really argue with her. I am looking at my own collection, and wonder how many shoes look a little long in the tooth.

[CrushedVamp]

When I remember the 1980's, I remember two distinct styles. The party girls wore the typical high heel stiletto of 3-1/2 to 4 inch heel, then the "Kitten heels" of the day, or at least as I called them. I don't want to offend anyone here, but will say, it was just not what I preferred seeing. I once bought my wife a pair of kitten heels because it was the right color for one of her blue dresses, and can tell you, she did not care for the style either. I don't think she ever wore the shoes and gave them away to one of those shoe donation boxes.

My other recollection of the 1980's was watching a 6:30 PM mainstream news cast where there was a need for a filler moment, and so a reporter reported on how women were walking to work in New York City in their sneakers and then switching to high heels at work, and it was some sort of major movement. Women loved it and men hated it. I tried to look for that news segment but could not find it readily. Still, who would have thought years later high heels in the workplace would consist of so few?

[Cali]

I was at a meeting last spring with 25 people facing each other in a rectangular table layout. After the meeting, a woman sitting across the room, took off her heels, took her sneakers out of her bag, put on her sneakers to go to her office upstairs in the same building. So she had 'meeting only heels'.

[Gige]

On 12/20/2024 at 9:17 PM, Mr. X said:

Thank's for the shout out @Gige Somehow, you know me too well!  I like all kinds of music.  But anything 80's, especially hair metal, thats my jam.  So while I appreciate the shout out, I have to condem you for crapping on White Lion and Vixen lol.  But in all seriousness, I never to got to see the Ozzman. I have seen Zakk twice, though.  Killer guitar player!  I saw him some years back with his band Black Label Society.  And I just saw him this past summer playing in the new Pantera lineup.  Would have loved to have seen Vixen in their prime.  As you said, all the members were hot as hell.  And I can tolerate their music.  And White Lion had some decent stuff.  Vito was a decent guitar player.

First off, thanks for the thanks! Zakk is a great guitar player and I know a bit of his oeuvre with BLS. That show was the second and final time I saw Ozzy live - the first time was with Anthrax opening for him in December 1988. I know he, Rex Brown, Phil Anselmo, and Charlie Benante were touring as Pantera and that is a horribly talented group. I am sorry, but being a purest, without Dime and Vinnie, it does not strike me as "true" Pantera. It is not to say the did not have a great show, I think it is more of Anselmo trying to capitalize on Pantera's legacy. 

As I have gone back and listened to some of the hair metal artists of the 80's, I realized that there were some decent bands and music but it is hard to separate that/them from the whole scene of the time. Yes, Vito was a decent guitar player but, speaking for myself, I cannot separate him from the who hair metal genre. A

[Mr. X]

I agree, @Gige. The new Pantera lineup is not true, Pantera. But if you're going to get two replacements, I think they made the right choices, and they weren't going to find anybody better to fill the spots. And the only reason I saw them is because they were the opening act for Metallica, who I actually bought tickets to see, and they just happened to be on the bill. I was also interested in seeing Mammoth WVH on that bill. Don't get me wrong, I like Pantera. But if they were not on the bill that night, I wouldn't have been disappointed. And your lucky, because i'm still disappointed that I haven't seen Anthrax yet. But if I had to pick a band from that time that I'd love to see in any version of, it would probably be W.A.S.P. Their first three albums were killer! I was gonna say Cinderella, but I've already seen Tom Kiefer. I was also going to say Ratt, but i've seen Steven Pearcy. And I know what you mean. It was hard to distinguish the good bands from the whole 80's scene at the time. The 3 that I mentioned, Wasp, Ratt, and Cinderella, we're all way better bands than what the hair metal scene gave them credit for. And they all could have easily stood on their own two feet.